Philip Glass’s Madrigal Opera Reviewed

In one of the old Eastern Bloc jokes told about the fictitious Radio Yerevan, a caller asks: “I have a recipe for Duck à l’Orange, but I only have pork and cabbage. Can I still make the dish?” “In principle, yes,” goes the answer. “It just tastes a little different.” Philip Glass’s “Madrigal Opera,” which received a rare performance at National Sawdust on Saturday, could have been born from a similar question. The hourlong work has no plot, no characters and no libretto, but features six singers, a violin and a viola. Can a composer still build an opera with them? In principle, yes. Whether the result still tastes like an opera should remain a subject for debate.